Month: February 2019

I’m busy, you guys. I hate that word, but I am. From the time I get out of bed in the morning to the time I climb back in 16 hours later, I am on the go. Driving to work, working, emailing, driving home from work, taking care of Reagan, trying to keep my photography business going, all the things. Throw in cleaning up the house and trying to make sure everyone is fed & it’s a full day! I always attempt to make things as easy on myself by planning as many things as possible, and the biggest must-plan thing in our life is our meals. Mostly dinner.

Here are a few tips to help mommas (and daddies) who work make good choices and good meals without too much hassle and spent energy.

1. Have a list of your family’s favorite meals. I keep my list on my phone in the Reminders app. It’s easily accessible, and I can add to it whenever something new comes to me. It’s good to have a place to just pick and choose without too much thought.

2. Grocery lists. Use them. Love them. After you plan what meals you want to have each night, write the ingredients you’ll need to make them. Some things you may already have on hand so you don’t have to buy every single thing. This will help you stay on a budget and focus on what you really need, instead of letting you d etour down the candy aisle for that bag of mini Snicker.

3. Buy commonly used items in bulk. Simple. If you use an ingredient or grocery item a LOT, buy it in bulk! It is one less thing you have to worry about picking up & it’ll save you money. We buy large container of taco seasoning, for instance. We like tacos around here. Like, a lot.

4. Check the weather. Ever want chili when it’s cold? Me too. Sometimes planning meals that work well with the weather will keep things from getting boring or bland. I know I sometimes catch myself making the same things every week, then I have to snap out of it and try something different. Salads or BLTs are great for hot summer nights. Chili or homemade chicken noodle soup are great cold-weather meals.

5. Assign a “night” to specific days. Taco Tuesday.

6. Eat your leftovers. I have a problem with making too much food. It works out because sometimes we just have leftovers for dinner again. Or I’ll at least have lunch for the next day. Money saver and energy saver too.

Do you have any tips for me? Anything that really works for you for meal planning? I am always open to new ideas!

This past weekend, the weather was typical of a winter day in Kansas. Rainy and cloudy and just really boring. We decorated Valentine’s cookies with my nieces, and in that short time, sitting at the kitchen table with cookies and frosting and 6 different types of red and pink sprinkles passing around, I felt really whole in my role as a mom. It really takes very simple things to make a kid happy and make them understand that you care about them.

There are a lot of things I can’t do as a mom with a physical disability. I can’t run or jump or show her how to swing with my own legs, but there are a lot of things I can do. Like make her laugh and make her smile and make her feel loved and comforted and heard. So many times I feel like people (who obviously don’t know me) question my ability to mother her by what I am not able to do, and that’s not fair. Being a mom is making sure you raise someone who is going to be a productive and loving part of society. How you get from birth to that point can look so different for different families. My disability is just one small part of our path there.

And you know what, I don’t have to prove to anyone that my kid is happy and well taken care of. She will do that all on her own. She is upbeat and giggley and smart. Love exudes from her tiny body because that’s what we teach her.

The next time that someone judges someone else’s mothering, just shut it down. If their babies are happy and healthy, let them do things how they know how to do it. Everyone’s family doesn’t have to look like yours to be happy.

I used to think that there was such a thing as work life balance, but as Reagan gets older & my photography business grows and my day job is a little less demanding (yay for fewer complaints), I feel like there is always one part of my life that pulls harder than the others.

One area is always heavier.

For me, right now at this moment, it is family. The beginning of the year seems to be the most time spent with my family because the audit at work is over, Greg is home for the winter, and it’s too cold to shoot any sessions. There are very few obligations that I have right now.

Greg, Reagan and I just took our first family week-long vacation last week to Florida, and I cannot even tell you how good it was for my heart. The sleeping in, the loosely scheduled days, the time spent laughing and goofing off and watching Reagan be enthralled with everything. It was just what I needed in a time that I was feeling unsure and a lot of anxiety about nothing. That anxiety tends to hit me every once in a while, and this vacation really did make it disappear. Maybe I figured out that little piece of self care that I need when things seem big and overwhelming. Maybe taking the advice of so many people to just s l o w d o w n and do nothing is paying off.

I am not good at it, but maybe it will be like a muscle. The more I flex my self care muscle, the stronger it will become. So here’s to more sleeping in, baking cookies, reading books, and relaxing outside with a schedule to dictate my every move of the day.

H E L L O

My name is Carrie. I am a photographer, dreamer, wife, and momma. You've stumbled across my blog. Look around. Stay awhile. And subscribe to keep up on my crazy, busy, and sometimes exciting life.

F O L L O W

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.